IN MEMORIAM:
Richard C. Hunsaker (1932–2021)
The Wooden Floor is once again saddened to share the unfortunate news of the passing of Board Emeritus Richard C. Hunsaker, just days after the passing of his wife, Virginia “Ginnie” Hunsaker. His family shared the following: “Our wonderful dad, Rich, passed away peacefully on January 12, 2021, at the age of 89. He just couldn’t wait any longer to be with our mom, Ginnie, who passed away on January 3, 2021.” “Rich” as he was affectionately known, meant a great deal to our organization, our students, staff, and Board of Directors. With his wife Ginnie, the Hunsakers were faithful stewards of The Wooden Floor’s mission and of the precious resources entrusted to us. In 1994, Rich and Ginnie began their journey as supporters of The Wooden Floor, previously known as Saint Joseph Ballet, and they immediately made an impact. Rich served on the Board of Directors from 1994 to 2015, serving as Co-Board Chair with Ginnie from 1996 to 1999, and joined The Wooden Floor’s prestigious Board Emeritus in late 2015.
In 1997, Rich along with two other members of the Board of Directors and our community negotiated with the City of Santa Ana to purchase the land for our headquarters in the Museum and Arts District. They went on to lead efforts to raise $6.7M in just two years for the organization’s first capital campaign to build our flagship Main Street location. Rich’s laser focus on financial stewardship is a hallmark of his legacy at The Wooden Floor. From 2001 to 2015, Rich served as Board Treasurer and Finance Chair, which included overseeing the launch of the Endowment Fund. Again, in 2016 Rich and Ginnie served as Honorary Chairs of our Lift Campaign, which raised $20.2M from 20162019. Rich and Ginnie’s multi-million dollar lead gift to the comprehensive campaign helped the organization realize the vision to serve more, deepen our services, as well as build upon our Endowment Fund. Their generosity to our Endowment Fund will especially help create long-term financial sustainability for our organization, which has always been among their foremost goals.
Since the time Rich and Ginnie met at the University of Redlands during their undergraduate years, supporting education was always one of their highest priorities. Once The Wooden Floor had its first graduating class with 100% college enrollment in 2005, Rich and Ginnie provided scholarships to any student of The Wooden Floor accepted to their alma mater, covering all unmet financial need for the students’ entire 4-year university tenure. Each year, Rich personally contacted the university on behalf of each student to plan for their Hunsaker Scholarship, and was always thrilled when he heard of decisions to attend their alma mater. Ginnie and Rich’s stalwart support and love for our mission and the students we serve cannot be understated. The impact of their leadership and legacy to transform the lives of young people from low-income communities through the power of dance and access to higher education will continue for generations to come. They will be remembered for their excellence, commitment and stewardship, as well as kindness for others, and sense of humor.
If you witnessed their wonderful marriage and the love they had for each other, there is solace in knowing they lived a long life together and did not have to live apart for very long. There will not be a formal memorial service at this time due to the pandemic. The family will be planning a memorial service to celebrate their extraordinary lives at a later date. If you would like to send a condolence note to the family, the address is:
Hunsaker Management P.O. Box 2423 Santa Ana, CA 92707-0423
Founded in 1983, The Wooden Floor is one of the foremost creative youth development nonprofit organizations in the country. We transform the lives of young people in low-income communities through the power of dance and access to higher education. In Orange County and through national licensed partners, we use a long-term approach grounded in exploratory dance education to foster the confidence and gifts within each child to innovate, communicate, and collaborate – skills necessary for success in The Wooden Floor immediately enroll in higher education. Our students become change agents and beacons of hope within their own families, their neighborhoods, our community, and our world.
TheWoodenFloor.org The Wooden Floor is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization. Federal Tax ID # 33-0299356
Photography by Tony Lattimore Š 2020 The Wooden Floor
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